The Wind In Your Ears

I love being busy.  

Like a lot of people, I wear it like a badge of honor. 

Do you ever find yourself comparing busy schedules with your friends, and suddenly you feel as though you are in some kind of competition? 

"Well heck, that seems like you've got a lot going on there, Joe... but OUR schedule is absolutely insane by comparison.  When you get to insane-level scheduling, my friend... let's talk then. Until then, don't even think of stepping to me."  

It's easy to get addicted to the adrenaline rush of busy-ness, isn't it?  

But the problem I face when I am riding the emotional high of busy-ness is a significant one:  

It's hard to feel the presence of God when I'm rushing to and fro.  It's even more difficult to attune my spiritual hearing to hear God's voice speaking with all of the noise created by my busy-ness.  

When you're trying to hear God in the midst of busy-ness it's a lot like trying to have a conversation in a speeding convertible with the top down.  

Much like the ancient prophet Elijah, you can't hear God in the rushing wind or the earthquakes around you--you hear God speak in the stillness and the silence and only when you come to a halt and are ready to listen.  

And it's in those moments when we slow down, and breathe that we begin to see our place and purpose in the world more clearly. Author Anne Lamott describes it like this:  

"Being slow and softened, even for a few minutes or seconds, gives sneaky grace the chance to enter." 

Jesus modeled this behavior for us by constantly carving out time to slow down, pray, have some quiet time where he tended his relationship with the Father.  

In Luke chapter 6:12-13 we read about one such instance: “Jesus went out to a mountain side to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him.” 

Find some time today to slow down and experience God.  Push back against the busy-ness and the rush of wind in your ears.  Let yourself feel the slowness, and the softening of your spirit that comes from surrender.  Listen for God's voice amidst the quiet, and let your connection to God be made stronger and deeper in your listening. 

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.